Recommendations for obd2 scanners about £100???

[Bmwfan001]

Hi all.
Does anyone use or bought an obd2 scanner for about £100 or there abouts that is good? That really is useful ?
I don't want a £10 tool but something useful would be good.
I don't want to waste £150 if it's rubbish.

There are literally hundreds of them .....

The topdons or icarsoft??? But there are cheaper ones if any one has personal experience would be greatly appreciated.

Any ideas and thanks

Edited by Bmwfan001 on Sunday 5th November 09:59

[EmailAddress]

I prefer a generic reader with software that's being developed and updated.

E.g https://www.obdlink.com/ paired with https://bimmerlink.app/

It depends how many vehicles you're looking to read though.

[Bmwfan001]

3 or 4 cars at least in the family. Just something useful

[Radec]

Although over your budget I bought a topdog Artidiag500 to reset an airbag fault and some other stuff, worked really well and gets free updates

It's £159 on Amazon, however has a £25 voucher you can apply which brings the price down a bit if you can stretch your budget.

[cootuk]

I just got a cheap Autolink 319.
Basic, but reads codes and clears them ok.
It depends what you expect of it

[ScoobyChris]

My experience has been that the cheapo generic scanners are pretty good for the majority of “common” OBDII codes but that you will want something a bit more specialist for marque specific codes. My solution was to buy a cable and get the software for a PC for the marque (VAG, BMW and Ford) and use that, but it’s a bit of a pain especially where the software only runs on an antique laptop with a serial port . I also tried BimmerLink via an OBDII dongle but even that, disappointingly, couldn’t identify a parking sensor fault.

I’m not sure if the expensive tools you’re looking at give you coverage of multiple marques, but I ended up investing in one of these for my BMW as there are some maintenance tasks potentially on the horizon and I can DIY them and do the reset them without visiting a dealer:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/394126064192?mkcid=16&a...

Chris

[Decky_Q]

If you have a laptop I'd reccomend getting a fake delphi unit, they're all over wish/Aliexpress very cheap and do everything including parking brakes, airbags etc it's a very comprehensive system. I paid £60 to a local guy who installed it and set it up on my laptop. Its about £40 to buy and do it yourself.

[Bmwfan001]

Yes probably right. I have a BMW cable and the ista software.
I just didn't wanna buy a new canel and stuff for every car I have and use.
But it might be a better way.

Just fancied an All in one. But I guess will Cost much pennies.

My friend has a snap on solus ? I thought perhaps you can get a similar thing from China not costing thousands

[CraigyMc]

Bmwfan001 said:

Yes probably right. I have a BMW cable and the ista software.
I just didn't wanna buy a new canel and stuff for every car I have and use.
But it might be a better way.

Just fancied an All in one. But I guess will Cost much pennies.

My friend has a snap on solus ? I thought perhaps you can get a similar thing from China not costing thousands

If you've already got a d-can cable and ISTA/D with a laptop, I'm a bit confused why you're asking about all-in-ones.

For a code reader (without the ability to actually reset stuff) a bluetooth ELM327 from ebay for £5 delivered does the job as long as you have a smartphone and OBD application.

Given you've already done the painful bit for BMW group cars, it might be better to look at what specific software there is for the other cars in the family and get the specific code for each. For the VW group stuff, ETKA exists. It really matters which manufacturer you're talking to.